It is high time I try reviewing a Ring of Honor show.
I doubt my usual play by play style of recapping
matches will work with the fast paced ROH style, so
this review may be a little rough around the edges.

The show opens with CM Punk hanging out in the ring
before the show. Punk talks about his first match
against Samoa Joe, which went to a 60 minute draw.
Punk is optimistic that since they are in his home
town of Chicago Ridge, IL, he will prevail tonight.
Punk reminisces about his past fights from high school
(and after seeing that year book photo of him that
surfaced online, I can see why) and how some kids came
to his house to beat him up.

Elsewhere, Generation Next (Alex Shelley, Roderick
Strong, and Jack Evans) is hanging out. Alex Shelley
talks some crap about Ricky Steamboat. Shelley is
pissed that Steamboat caused them to lose to the
Second City Saints. But tonight, Shelley has Jimmy
Jacobs in an 'I quit' match. Evans and Strong will be
taking on Homicide and Rocky Romero. Evans then cuts a
nerdy white boy promo and does some break dancing.

Davey Andrews vs. TJ Dalton
These two men tie up and are immediately attacked by
the Carnage Crew for the no contest finish at 0.13.
This makes for an obvious DUD.No contest

Loc takes the microphone and cuts a promo against Mick
Foley and his 'ring of hardcore.' He believes that
there would be no hardcore in ROH if not for him and
Devito. Devito takes the mic and talks some trash
against BJ Whitmer and Dan Maff. I really freaking
hate the Carnage Crew, and this promo was particularly
bad.

Jay Lethal vs. Delirious
The match starts off lively enough with Delirious and
Lethal reversing several moves until Delirious
unleashes some furious strikes. That action is mainly
stalemate, though Lethal manages to sneak some near
falls in. Lethal hits a snap suplex and gains the
upper hand, but is soon caught in a sit-down power
bomb. Delirious rakes Lethal's face, but gets a rope
break. They trade some shots and Lethal gets a big leg
lariat. Lethal keeps the upper hand with a back suplex
and another near fall. They head to the top rope,
Delirious blocks a superplex and hits a hurrancarana.
They exchange strikes again for a bit. Delirious falls
out of the ring, and narrowly avoids a baseball slide.
They brawl and Lethal gets sent flying into the guard
rail. Delirious attempts an off the top move, but
Lethal cuts him off and Delirious hits a unique
slingshot move in the ropes. Delirious then
cannonballs off the ropes. The action backs in the
ring, and Lethal dodges an off the ropes splash and
hits a huge clothesline. Lethal remains in control,
but Delirious blocks the dragon suplex and hits a drop
kick. Lethal blocks Delirious and hits a swinging
neckbreaker. Lethal goes up top for a head butt, but
Delirious counters this into an ace crusher. Delirious
goes top rope again and gets a very near fall which
the crowd chants 'bullshit' to. Delirious gets a
running forearm and gets yet another near fall in.
Lethal gets back up, grabs Delirious by the mask and
finally hits the dragon suplex for the victory at
8:15. This was a good (official) opener, with some
good spots by both men, **3/4.Winner: Jay Lethal

Backstage, Samoa Joe talks about his first match
against Punk. Punk might think that being in his
hometown gives him an advantage, but Joe reminds Punk
that he failed in their last encounter and he will
fail again tonight.

Tracy Brooks vs. Daizee Haze
This is apparently the first women's match on a main
ROH show since Alexis Laree took off for WWE land.
Good tie up to start things off, Brooks gets a
fireman's carry. They do a little chain wrestling,
with Haze getting the upper hand. They go through a
series of pinfall combinations. The match restarts as
the crowd is politely into this match. They go for a
test of strength which leads to a cover attempt by
Brooks and a monkey flip by Haze. They go through
another pinfall combination. Brooks hits a knee and
gets a near fall. Brooks hits some impressive chops.
Haze fights back with some strikes of her own and a
clothesline into a cover. Daze goes high risk and hits
a missile drop kick. Haze almost gets the pinfall.
Brooks reverses a couple of stunner attempts but Haze
succeeds on her third attempt. Brooks no sells and
hits a lariat for the win at 3:42. This was a very
good women's match (far better than the average dreck
on WWE television) but was way too short, *1/4.Winner: Tracy Brooks

Four Corner Survival:
Angel Dust vs. Trent Acid vs. Matt Sydal vs. Josh
Daniels
This match is a sad testament to the downfall of Trent
Acid, as his every move in this match suggests that he
really just doesn't give a damn. Daniels and Angel
Dust start things off with a basic stalemate sequence.
The match restarts with Angel Dust goofing around with
the referee. Daniels hits a couple nice chops but
another stalemate sequence sets in. This thrilling
battle ends with Daniels tagging in Sydal. Sydal gets
a side head lock in which the crowd responds with a
'We want Acid' chant. Angel Dust works a side head
lock of his own. Sydal gets out, but is soon the
victim of a few sick back breakers. Acid tags himself
in and charges at Matt Sydal. Acid tosses Sydal up
top, but Sydal slips to the floor. The ref lets Josh
Daniels take Sydal's place in the ring. Acid is tossed
out, to which Sydal hits a double stomp on Daniels
while landing on Acid in the process. That was pretty
cool. Angel Dust joins the fray with a moonsault on
all three men. Acid is up first and tosses everyone
back into the ring, where Daniels goes on a chopping
spree. Acid attacks everyone in range and slams
Daniels down for a near fall. Angel Dust tags himself
in, snap mares Daniels, hits some stiff kicks, but
Daniels takes control anyway. Dust soon hits a double
stomp off the ropes on the neck of Josh Daniels. Sydal
is tagged in and almost hits a shooting star press.
All hell breaks loose with all four men in the ring.
Acid thought he had the win, but Daniels pinned Angel
Dust with a German suplex at 6:34. This was your
typical lower card spot fest, though Matt Sydal
provided some fun spots and Daniels provided some fun
stiffness, *1/2.Winner: Josh Daniels

Acid is really pissed about this loss, as he was
attempting to be the king of multiple man matches. He
shakes Daniels' hand anyway.

Up next, Ricky Steamboat leads Nigel McGuinness and
Chad Collyer to the ring. Steamboat is representing
pure wrestling. Mick Foley comes out next with BJ
Whitmer and Dan Maff, as they are representing
hardcore wrestling. Of course, when I think about
hardcore wrestling, these are not the two men I think
of, but Whitmer has gone on to have some really good
hardcore matches in the midst of the CZW feud of 2006.

Steamboat and Foley are left alone in the ring for a
dueling microphones segment. Steamboat does not feel
that his guys are better than Foley's, but he feels
the pure style is better than the hardcore style.
Steamboat plays the 'garbage wrestling' card, which
earns him some heat from the crowd. Foley rags on
Steamboat for actually saying something entertaining.
Foley gets his cheap hometown pop in while mentioning
Steamboat's NWA title victory over Ric Flair in 1989
(the crowd boos at the mention of Flair). Foley puts
Steamboat over as being perhaps the greatest pure
wrestler of all time. Foley turns this around into
saying that he might as well say that Steamboat is the
greatest soft-core porn actor of all time because it
just isn't the real deal. Foley asks Steamboat how
much longer he plans on riding on the coat tails of a
'washed up loser like Ric Flair' which earns a monster
pop. Steamboat takes offense and tells Foley that he
is nothing like Ric Flair. Foley takes his opportunity
to make fun of Flair some more, comparing him to
Barbara Bush in drag. I wonder if Flair, Triple H, and
company ever saw this segment, because I don't think
they would've found this funny. The banter goes back
and forth a bit longer, which is worth the price of
admission alone.

Nigel McGuinness and Chad Collyer (with Ricky
Steamboat) vs. BJ Whitmer and Dan Maff (with Mick
Foley)
The match finally starts and it is a shame that it
will likely not be anywhere nearly as entertaining as
the Steamboat/Foley promo segment. Nigel and Whitmer
start things off with some chain wrestling. Its good
stuff as Nigel hits a beautiful arm drag and the chain
wrestling continues. Collyer is tagged in and works on
the arm of BJ Whitmer. Dan Maff is tagged in and he
puts Collyer into a side head lock. Collyer reverses
the head lock, takes Maff down, and applies a front
face lock. This is solid, if unspectacular. Maff tries
to mount an offense, but takes a monkey flip and
Collyer retakes control. Nigel is tagged in and works
the arm. Maff hits an ugly power slam, but Collyer
gets a tag and retakes control. Collyer applies yet
another wrist lock, Maff fights out and goes for a
power slam, but foolishly walks into Nigel's corner,
who tags himself in. The action picks up a bit, as
Maff drops Nigel with an elbow and tags in Whitmer.
Nigel takes control with a deep arm drag and tags in
Collyer for a double team. Meanwhile, the Carnage Crew
are back to annoy me and attack Foley. In the ring,
all four men are now brawling, as the Carnage Crew are
involved, and the ref calls for the double DQ at 4:45.
Total bullshit, ¾*.No contest

Ricky Steamboat is outraged over the interference and
calls the Carnage Crew 'dickheads.' Steamboat
unleashes his fury on the Carnage Crew and chases them
out of the ring with a chair. Foley suggests that the
match restart under hardcore rules.

Ring of Hardcore:
Nigel McGuinness and Chad Collyer vs. BJ Whitmer and
Dan Maff (with Mick Foley)
Nigel and Whitmer start things off again, with them
sticking to plain wrestling for the early going.
Collyer tries getting involved with an off the ropes
elbow, but misses. All hell breaks loose as Dan Maff
gets involved and the brawl takes to ringside. Foley
gets involved, attacking Nigel McGuinness with a
microphone. Maff and Collyer are meanwhile brawling in
the crowd. Maff throws a garbage bin at Collyer, thus
proving Steamboat right. Maff tosses Collyer back to
ringside, where Foley gets a chair shot in. Maff then
smacks Collyer over the head with someone's drink.
Elsewhere, Nigel takes a sick chair shot from Whitmer.
The brawl continues, as the match turns into a sort of
handicap match as Foley keeps hitting Collyer when
given the chance. Maff soon sits Collyer onto a table
at ringside and chokes him. Nigel and Whitmer are back
in the ring, and Maff joins them for a double team.
Collyer recovers and runs in for the save and the
brawl continues. Whitmer hits an exploder suplex on
Collyer right onto a chair. Steamboat returns and is
furious at what he is seeing. He tells Nigel to use
his wrestling skills, and Nigel follows suit, engaging
Whitmer in a chain wrestling sequence. Nigel ends up
getting the victory over Whitmer in a pinning
combination, ending round two of this encounter at
5:33. The crowd is displeased and chants 'bullshit'
yet again, and I would have to agree. This was awkward
and not a good representation for the talent involved,
½*.Winners: Nigel McGuinness and Chad Collyer

It's intermission time already! Backstage, Trent Acid
is slumped in a corner, looking like he hasn't
showered in months. Acid feels like an outcast and
looks distraught, as if his drug dealer is late or
something.

Carnage Crew vs. TJ Dalton and Davey Andrews
Just what I wanted, more Carnage Crew! The action
starts with Dalton and Andrews taking the fight to the
Crew, hitting double drop kicks and then double
teaming Devito. They hit a double flap jack on Loc.
The double team ends when Loc sets Dalton up for the
Doomsday Device. Devito is pissed and dominates
Dalton, the newly established legal man. Loc is tagged
in and hits an elbow drop. Devito tags back in and
hits some stiff Crossface strikes. Loc tags in and the
Crew double teams Andrews. Dalton tags in and tries to
mount an offense. Andrews is quickly tagged back in
and cleans house on the Crew. The comeback is short
lived as he eats a Carnage-plex. Dalton tries to make
the save and eats the Splash Mountain neckbreaker (as
the commentators call it). The Crew finish things with
the Carnage-plex on Andrews, which looked brutal. That
was enough for the win at 4:22. This was a complete
squash, as Andrews and Dalton only got token offense
in, ¼*. If this was EWR, Sophie would note that the
Carnage Crew were used too much, and the crowd got
tired of seeing them.Winners: The Carnage Crew

Loc cuts another promo after the match, which I am
just delighted to hear.

Homicide and Rocky Romero vs. Roderick Strong and Jack
Evans
Yes, this is a heel vs. heel match up, not that it
really matters to a ROH crowd. A two on two brawl
kicks things off, as Romero and Strong go to the
floor, leaving Evans and Homicide in the ring. Evans
hits a moonsault kick and then a suicide dive on
Homicide. Strong and Romero are in the ring next. I'm
not sure who the legal men are supposed to be at this
point, until Romero tags in Homicide, answering my
question. Things slow down as Homicide takes control
of Strong, choking him in the corner and hitting some
chops. Romero is tagged in for a double team,
establishing Strong as the de facto face in peril.
Homicide tags in and hits a double foot stomp.
Homicide follows up with a northern lights suplex into
a pin attempt, and tags Romero in. Romero looks good
with his hard hitting offense, but Strong fires back
with a vicious knife edge chop. This doesn't mount to
anything, as Romero maintains control and keeps making
frequent tags with Homicide. Strong finally pushes
Homicide into Evan's corner, allowing Evans to tag
himself in. Evans gets the upper hand and tags in
Strong for some double team moves. Evans hits a lovely
450 off of Strong for a near fall on Homicide. After
some double teaming, things slow down to Strong vs.
Homicide. Evans is tagged in for a flying cross body
on Homicide, but soon suffers a slingshot DDT. Romero
is tagged in and slaps the taste out of the mouth of
Jack Evans. Romero gets the cobra clutch locked on
Evans, but Strong breaks it up with a chop to the
back. Homicide is tagged in, and he and Romero both
choke Evans with their boots. Homicide and Romero make
frequent tags, isolating Evans and brutalizing him
with some hard offense. Evans is more or less murdered
during this sequence, finally being tossed over the
ropes onto Strong. Homicide then rips off the metal
ROH sign from the barricade and throws it at Strong.
Back in the ring, Homicide continues the assault on
Evans.

The tide turns when Homicide misses a diving head
butt, and Strong is finally tagged in. Strong destroys
Homicide with a personalized back breaker. Romero
charges in, but Strong catches him and holds him over
his shoulders. Evans then moonsaults off of Romero
onto Homicide while Strong crushes Romero's back in a
truly awesome spot! Strong covers Homicide, who
somehow kicks out of this one. Homicide then hits a
blind low blow, rakes Strong's back, and sets him up
for Romero to hit an off the ropes bull dog. Romero
gets a close near fall on Strong, who is clearly
frustrated now. Evans gets tagged and springboards
onto Romero. All hell breaks loose with all four men
in the ring. Homicide hits a piledriver on Strong,
ending his momentum. Strong sets Evans up on the top
rope but gets pushed down. Evans is knocked down by a
charging Homicide. Homicide hits a double underhook
suplex off the top, power bombs Evans, and sets him up
for a cover attempt by Romero. Strong breaks the near
fall. It doesn't matter, as Homicide destroys Evans
with a lariat, and the referee finally realizes that
Evans is not the legal man. Homicide and Romero
continue the double team assault on Strong, who keeps
kicking out of pinfall situations. Strong fights both
of them off, hits a double knee shot to Homicide's
gut, and plants Romero with an ace crusher. Homicide
hits a lariat on Strong while Evans hits a 630 splash
on Romero for the victory at 17:47. I lost track of
who the legal men were supposed to be several minutes
ago. The match should have ended with Evans' moonsault
off of Romero, as everything after that felt
anticlimactic. The selling was very spotty as well,
though some great spots and hard offense give this
match some points, ***.Winners: Roderick Strong and Jack Evans

After the match, Homicide puts Generation Next over on
the microphone. Homicide wants to shake their hands,
which of course turns into an attack. Homicide plants
Evans with the Cop Killa. This only earns Homicide and
Romero a face pop, of course. This continues, even as
Homicide tells the fans he hates them all and asks
them to kiss their Puerto Rican asses.

'I Quit' match:
Alex Shelley vs. Jimmy Jacobs
Shelley slaps Jacobs to start things off and spears
him. Shelley slams Jacobs into the ring post, but
Jacobs is too pissed off to sell it. Jacobs fires back
with some stiff shots. Shelley dumps him to ringside,
but Jacobs trips Shelley on the apron. Jacobs hits a
hurrancarana off the apron. Jacobs almost botches
another hurrancarana off the apron, but saves the
spot. Shelley recovers and grabs some chairs. He
drives Jacobs into a chair by the throat. Jacobs
counters and goes for a sliced bread #2 off the guard
rail, but Shelley counters and throws him into the
steel. Shelley then hits a side Russian legsweep on
Jacobs into the barricade. Shelley DDT's Jacobs onto
the apron and then continues using the barricade as a
weapon. Shelley plants Jacobs on the apron for a sick
double stomp on the head. The action spills back into
the ring. Shelley uses his knees to drive Jacobs'
skull into a chair, a move which is apparently called
the 'Skull Fucker.' Jacobs soon counters a suplex with
a neckbreaker. Jacobs gets some chair shots on Shelley
and wraps it around his neck for a choking spot. With
Shelley's head trapped in the chair, Jacob adds a half
Boston crab, but Shelley refuses to quit. Jacobs had a
spike wrapped in his boot. Shelley blocks the spike
and hits a super kick. Shelley drives the spike into
the skull of Jimmy Jacobs and plays to the crowd for
some Jericho-esque heat. Shelley proceeds to carve
Jacobs' skull with the spike. Shelley sets up a chair,
but Jacobs fights back with strikes. Shelley counters
a sliced bread attempt with a sick piledriver onto the
chair! That looked like it hurt. Jacobs still won't
quit. Shelley fetches a kendo stick from under the
ring as well as some duck tape. Shelley tapes Jacobs
to the turnbuckle as a fan shouts 'Would TNA ever let
you do something like this?'

With Jacobs trapped to the turnbuckle, Shelley cracks
the kendo stick across the back! Instead of quitting,
Jacobs only yells 'Huss!' and manages to low blow
Shelly while still trapped. Jacobs pulls another spike
out of his furry boots and frees himself from the duck
tape. Jacobs charges at Shelley with the spike but
takes another kendo stick shot. Jacobs manages to grab
the stick and nails Shelley with it. Jacobs uses the
stick in a camel clutch, but Shelley won't quit.
Jacobs goes for a senton, but Shelley moves. Shelley
takes the spike in one hand and the kendo stick in the
other and takes turns hitting Jacobs with both
weapons. Shelley puts Jacobs in a border city stretch,
giving Jacobs a perfectly good reason to quit. Jacobs
teases passing out, but fights out. Jacobs plants
Shelley's skull to the mat, and sets him up for the
senton, hitting the move this time around. Jacobs
nails Shelley with the kendo stick again and puts him
into the border city stretch himself. Shelley counters
with a shot to the eyes. Shelley is hurt, giving
Jacobs a chance to set up some chairs, making a mini
table out of it. Shelley counters Jacobs and hits a
suplex right onto the chairs! Shelley puts Jacobs back
into the border city stretch, who finally calls it
quits at 16:48! This was an absolutely brutal grudge
match, which featured some satisfying violence. Jacobs
came off as a perfect sympathetic babyface, with
Shelley being the aggressive and sadistic villain,
***3/4.Winner: Alex Shelley

After the match, Shelley takes a microphone and talks
some crap. He refuses to continue if he hears another
fan yell 'huss' which of course brings on the 'huss'
chants. Shelley is not through with Jacobs, and
Roderick Strong joins Shelley in beating down Jacobs.
Ricky Steamboat runs in for the save! The Generation
Next members flee the ring, but the fucking Carnage
Crew run in for a beat down on Steamboat. Not again.
Foley, Whitmer, and Maff run in for the save. Foley
rubs it in that Steamboat was saved by hardcore
wrestling. Well, he was also under attack from
hardcore wrestlers. That is like being thanked for
putting out a fire that he started.

They tie up and Joe pushes Punk to the mat. They
circle each other again, clearly pacing themselves.
They take a break to soak in the dueling chants from
the crowd. They tie up again and Joe pushes Punk down
yet again. They tie up a third time, Punk drop toe
holds Joe, and gets a sneaky near fall in the early
going. The match restarts with a side head lock by Joe
on Punk. Punk reverses the hold. Joe wrenches Punk's
wrist and drops him to the mat. Punk rolls back to his
feet, but still caught in the wrist lock. Punk
counters with a fireman's carry and backs into the
corner. The match restarts with another lockup. Joe
pushes Punk into the corner and cleanly breaks. There
is so much good sportsmanship here, I don't know if I
can handle it! Joe reverses a hammerlock and forces
Punk to the mat. Joe falls away on the hammerlock,
punishing the wrist. Punk reverses the hammerlock, but
Joe reverses that as well. They have another clean
break in the corner, and the match restarts yet again.
Joe and Punk tease a test of strength, but Joe gets a
kick in. They grasp hands again, and the action picks
up, resulting with Joe getting a camel clutch on Punk.
Punk escapes and gets a side head lock. Joe fights out
of the hold, and misses a chop. Punk puts Joe right
back into the side head lock. Joe reverses with a head
scissors. Punk frees his head, and trades shots with
Joe. Punk escapes a reverse full nelson and goes back
to the headlock. Joe tries to mount a comeback, but it
is right back to the side headlock. Joe rolls Punk
onto his shoulders, but Punk doesn't break the hold.
They get to a vertical position and get into the
ropes, and Punk breaks the hold. Joe thrusts his
shoulders, snapmares Punk, but Punk sneakily traps Joe
in the front headlock. Punk transitions this into
another side headlock on the mat.

Ten minutes are down, only fifty left. The side
headlock continues, Joe pushes Punk into the corner.
Joe unleashes some chops, obviously pissed about all
those headlocks. Typically, Punk hits a hip toss and
puts Joe back into a side headlock. Joe tries to break
the hold in the corner, but Punk kicks off the
turnbuckle, keeping the side headlock on. Joe hits a
back suplex, but Punk refuses to let go of the
headlock! Punk is wrestling a cautious match, and
doesn't want to take any big risks thus far. Joe
pushes Punk off into the ropes and they collide in the
middle of the ring. Punk bounces off the ropes right
back into Joe. Joe refuses to budge and pie faces
Punk. Punk goes for a cheap shot, but Joe strikes away
and hits an arm drag. Punk comes back with an arm drag
of his own and they go through a series of fast faced
striking until Punk gets a very close near fall! Joe
flees to ringside for a breather. Joe takes his sweet
time returning to the ring and the match restarts
again. They lock up, and Punk goes behind Joe for a
reverse waistlock take down. A fan starts chanting
'boring' but is quickly told to 'shut up.' They
reverse submission hold attempts, and Joe is forced to
break. Joe slaps Punk on the back before separating.
They lockup again and Joe catches Punk off guard with
some head butts. Joe unleashes some open hand slaps,
but Punk fires back with a series of strikes. This
ends when Joe catches Punk in the head with his boot.
Punk falls out of the ring for a breather. Punk takes
a minute before reentering the ring so the match can
restart. Joe goes for some strikes, but Punk wants a
lockup. Joe forces Punk down with a knucklelock. Punk
gets his feet around Joe's neck, but his shoulders are
down for a couple of near falls. Punk counters with a
monkey flip, but is soon trapped in a knucklelock
again. Punk flips around to break the hold and knocks
Joe down. Punk gets an arm drag for a cover attempt.
Punk hits a drop kick to the head as the twenty minute
mark passes.

Punk and Joe take turns chopping each other in the
corner. Punk then takes Joe to the mat with a
hammerlock. The regain a vertical position, and Punk
continues to work Joe's wrist. A fan criticizes the
match, and Punk reminds him where the exit is. That
was awesome. Punk climbs the turnbuckle and leaps off
the ropes with a leg drop on Joe's arm! Punk rolls Joe
into a rear chinlock. This transitions into a
hammerlock, which Joe counters with some elbow shots.
Joe is unable to mount a comeback, as Punk rolls him
into another armlock. It is surprising how Joe has
been dominated for the majority of this match thus
far. Punk hits a drop kick to the arm he was working
over, and Joe appears to be in trouble. Punk wrenches
the wrist, but Joe tries to fight back with some
strong forearm shots. Joe finally knocks Punk off his
feet. Joe snapmares Punk and chops his back. Joe goes
for the kick to the chest, but Joe grabs the leg and
rolls Joe into a rear chinlock. They get back to their
feet and Punk keeps favoring the side headlock. Joe
pushes them both through the ropes to the floor, but
Punk won't let go of the headlock. Joe responds by
dropping Punk to the floor with a back suplex! Punk
appears to be dead. Joe takes too long getting Punk
into the ring, and only gets a two count on a cover
attempt. Joe once again goes for his kick to the
chest, but Punk blocks it again. This time Joe fights
Punk with a shot to the back and drops his knee. Joe
strikes Punk into the corner, and drops him off his
feet. Joe washes his boot on Punk's face, but Punk
flees in time to miss a running boot. Punk corners Joe
and hits a running elbow. Punk washes his boot on
Joe's face and hits a running boot of his own! Punk
goes for the cover, but it's only two. Punk sets up
Joe in the corner and drives his knee into the back.
Punk goes for another cover, but Joe got a foot in the
ropes. Punk tries another cover, but Joe is far from
defeated. Joe blocks a kick and grabs the leg,
dropping Punk. Joe goes for an STF, but has to
improvise a different submission attempt. Joe
stretches Punk in half, but Punk doesn't tap!

The match hits the halfway point, and the action picks
up. Punk goes for a crossbody off the ropes, but Joe
casually walks out of the way. I always enjoy that
spot. Joe hits a vicious backbreaker. Joe sets Punk up
in a long vertical suplex. Joe goes for the cover, but
it isn't even enough for a two count. Punk comes back
with some chops. Punk dodges a legsweep and drop kicks
Joe in the head. Joe then hits the legsweep for real,
and Punk is dead again. Joe traps Punk in a full
Boston crab. Punk desperately tries to get to the
ropes, but Joe sits all the way back on the crab! Punk
luckily gets to the ropes. Joe violently whips Punk
into the turnbuckles as hard as he could. Joe follows
up with a series of kicks to the face. Punk responds
with a slap. They then exchange strong shots, but Joe
drops Punk with a beautiful uppercut. Joe goes for a
cover and then drives Punk back into the turnbuckles.
Punk is still evidently dead, as this portion of the
match has slowed down quite a bit. Joe washes his boot
on Punk's face and hits the running boot to the face!
Joe takes a moment to intimidate the referee, who kept
breaking the corner attack, giving Punk a chance to
get back to his feet and mount some offense. Joe
casually drops Punk with a head butt, and goes for the
cover again. It is worth mentioning that Punk has a
black eye by this point. With Punk in a daze, Joe
continues to drive his elbow and forearm. Punk is sent
into the turnbuckle again, but gets a boot to Joe's
face and then a hurrancarana! Joe falls out of the
ring, and Punk throws himself through the ropes with a
suicide dive! Punk is newly reenergized and sets Joe
up for the 'ole, ole' kicks and manages to connect!
Punk sets Joe up for another round of 'ole, ole' kicks
and succeeds! Joe appears to be out of it! Punk goes
for a hurrancarana off the apron, but Joe grabs him in
mid-air and swings him into the barricade! Joe
furiously sets Punk up for the 'ole' kicks, but Punk
cuts him off!

Forty minutes down, and Punk and Joe are exchanging
chops at ringside! Joe sets Punk up for the 'ole'
kicks again and nails him in the head! They make their
way back to the ring, and Joe is in charge now. Punk
head scissors Joe into the corner. Punk goes for a
splash, but Joe hits a vicious one handed spine
buster. Joe goes for the cover, but Punk gets out of
it. The crowd is loudly supporting Punk by this point.
The dueling chants come back. Punk is knocked to
ringside and Joe hits a flying forearm suicide dive
through the ropes! Both men are down. The commentators
are calling it a night to go 'join the fans in the
crowd.' The last 18 minutes of this match will have no
commentary, which can only be a positive thing. Joe
and Punk are back up on the apron. Joe DDTs Punk onto
the apron. The fans are having a clap-fest to Punk's
music in support of the hometown hero. Joe returns to
the ring, and waits for Punk to reach the apron. Joe
tries to suplex Punk into the ring, but Punk reverses
and hits a drop kick. Joe spears Punk to the mat and
gets a near fall. Joe hits a scoop slam and goes to
the top rope. Joe misses a flying head butt! Both men
are on their knees and exchange shots. Joe takes
control, but Punk responds with a kick to the face.
Punk hits Joe in the head with the back of his boot
several times, but then runs into a powerslam! Joe
gets a near fall and then puts Punk into a wristlock!
Punk barely manages to roll into the ropes! Punk
reverses a power bomb and gets a big boot into a near
fall! The atmosphere in the building is pure
electricity by now. Punk plants Joe on the turnbuckle
for a neckbreaker and then another near fall. Punk
calls for the Pepsi Plunge, but Joe throws Punk off.
Punk hits a huge tornado DDT and gets the closest of
near falls I think I have ever seen! Joe barely kicked
out! Punk desperately tries to get Joe to tap out as
the 50 minute mark approaches.

There are only ten minutes left before the sixty
minute time limit! Joe fights a suplex, goes for one
of his own, but Punk counters. Joe drops Punk to the
mat and almost gets the victory. Joe press slams Punk
into a gut buster. Joe hits a sick suplex and gets
another close fall. Punk does some chain wrestling to
sweep Joe off his feet into another close fall of his
own! The tension in the building is unbelievably
intense at this point. Joe then gets a big power bomb
in, and transitions into the STF! If I did not already
know the finish to this match, I would've been fooled
by many of these false finishes. Punk is trapped in
the STF for a good stretch of time before finally
getting to the ropes. Joe goes for a full nelson, but
Punk stomps on Joe's foot. Punk directs a drop kick at
Joe's knee and runs into a sunset flip for a severe
near fall. Punk gets a shining wizard and the crowd
thought he had it again with the near fall! Punk hits
a big clothesline and a moonsault, but Joe kicks out
of another cover attempt. Most of the fans are
standing. Punk tries to lift Joe, but Joe snaps and
hits several open handed slaps. They go through a
chain wrestling sequence until Punk locks himself on
Joe's back with a reverse chinlock! This is one of the
few times I would ever believe that hold as a
finisher. Joe escapes the hold with a suplex, but Punk
is back on his feet immediately and they take each
other down with running clotheslines. The clap-fest
from the audience is back in full force, there are
less than three minutes left! Punk climbs the
turnbuckle, and Joe comes after him, maybe wanting a
muscle buster. Punk pulls Joe up the turnbuckle with
him. Punk wants the Pepsi Plunge. Joe fights out and
punches the hell out of Punk. Punk fires away with
some forearms of his own and goes for the Plunge
again, but Joe butts him out. Joe then hits a big
superplex on Punk off the top! The crowd is not
pleased with that particular turn of events. There is
less than a minute left now, and Joe is in charge. Joe
sets Punk up for the Muscle Buster, but Punk fights
his way to freedom. Still on the turnbuckle, Joe
climbs up and Punk goes for the Pepsi Plunge, but Joe
counters into another suplexplex! As they hit the mat,
the time limit expires at 60:00! This match is a draw!
This finish earns some huge heat from the crowd, as
well as 'five more minutes' chants. This match was
incredible as the action and conflict built and built
and built until exploding in the final twenty minutes.
The sequence on the top where Punk kept going for the
Pepsi Plunge is among the most dramatic moments of any
wrestling match I have ever seen. Put your prejudices
aside, this match is a classic, *****.
No contest

After the match, CM Punk grasps the ROH belt and gazes
at it. He hands it back to Joe and they have a far
less sportsmanlike handshake than they did when the
match began. Joe celebrates the match as his music
plays, even though he did not win the match.

We then clips to a backstage CM Punk promo. Punk wants
another shot at Joe, this time in a no time limit
match. That match will decide who the king of ROH is.

Next is a clip of Joe. Joe says that Punk could not
get the job done on his second attempt. His job was to
beat Joe, not to survive him. Joe says it was a good
effort, but it will be his last one.

Final Thoughts: The undercard was pretty
underwhelming, but the Jacobs/Shelley match saved this
event from being a one match show. If I saw the
Carnage Crew one more time I was going to snap and go
on a killing spree. The main event is more than enough
reason to add this show to your video library, as you
really owe it to yourself to see it.